Tornadoes Down Lines, Destroy Moville Substation

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1 A publication for directors and employees of NIPCO and its member systems Fall 2013 Tornadoes Down Lines, Destroy Moville Substation In this issue: New Energy Efficiency Plan 2 Mobile Subs Busy This Year 3 Loan Program Aids Businesses 3 Load Control Saves Money 4 FEMA Project Nears End 5 New Transformer Slides Right In 6 Check out NIPCO s YouTube channel NIPCOvision Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/nipco.coop Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/nipco An unusual clutch of fall tornadoes destroyed NIPCO s Moville Substation Oct. 4 and took out two line sections in southwest Woodbury County. Early estimates to repair the transmission system total $600,000. At least nine tornadoes were reported in the tri-state region that evening. NIPCO s transmission system felt the first effects of the violent storms at 6:15 p.m. when the tap line carrying power to Lakeport Substation west of Sloan was hit. Poles in both the tap line and the nearby main transmission line were down. Forty minutes later, alarms sounded again at NIPCO s control center in the Le Mars headquarters. The Moville Substation, serving the rural area around Moville, was out of service after taking a direct hit. The tornado also ripped up farms and homes in the area, strewing debris across the farm fields. About 1.5 miles of NIPCO s main transmission line near the substation also was destroyed. Two line crews were called out immediately to assess damages while power was restored by looping around the damaged areas. The Moville Substation was beyond repair, so NIPCO s immediate resto- See Tornadoes page 2 The Moville Substation lays in ruins three days after the Oct. 4 tornadoes tore a path diagonally across Woodbury County. This substation, which serves the rural area around the town of Moville, will be redesigned and rebuilt by NIPCO crews by next summer.

2 Tornadoes Every pole in the half-mile tap line carrying power to the Moville Substation was knocked down by the force of the tornado. A NIPCO crew sets up temporary hazard fencing around the destroyed Moville Substation to protect unauthorized persons from entering a dangerous area. New Energy Efficiency Plan in the Works Iowa cooperatives are due to file new five-year plans for helping members become more energy efficient. To reach that goal, NIPCO has hired Guernsey, an Oklahoma City engineering firm, to assess the energy-saving potential of various products and services. The plan will be submitted to the Iowa Utilities Board by December In the cooperatives first five-year plan filed in December 2009, the cooperatives have distributed energy efficiency kits and compact fluorescent light bulbs to members, and encouraged adding insulation and other energy-savers.v continued from page 1 ration work centered on the damage west of Sloan. The line and apparatus crews worked all day Saturday, putting up eight new structures and rehanging conductor for the Lakeport tap line. On Sunday, they set 11 new structures in the main transmission line near Luton and restored the conductor. A contractor brought in an excavator to help by pulling broken pole stumps. NIPCO s line crew rebuilt the main transmission line near the Moville Substation by Oct. 10 and moved in one of NIPCO s three mobile substations. It was energized the following week to provide a steady source of power to Woodbury County REC members until the Moville Substation is reconstructed from the ground up. NIPCO crews salvaged what they could from the substation and a contractor removed other debris. Rebuilding the Moville Substation will cost roughly a half-million dollars. The work could take up to nine months, but the new substation and tap line will be constructed to current specifications. The tap line will have narrow-profile poles set closer together than the old line, and the conductor will be heavier. The new substation will include modern electrical system technology and space, which make it safer for linemen and technicians working in the substation. Design work for the new substation already is under way. The site has been graded. The damaged 5-MVA transformer was sent for repairs and will be reinstalled at the substation. NIPCO crews hope to pour concrete and prepare underground structures yet this fall so construction work can continue during the winter. The Moville Substation was one of NIPCO s earliest substations, going into service in June v 2

3 NIPCO crews connect the 1.5-MVA mobile substation to a switch near the Moville Substation, destroyed by an Oct. 4 tornado. The mobile sub will provide power to Woodbury County REC members in the area until the substation is rebuilt next year. Mobile Subs Have Been Busy This Year Often NIPCO s three mobile substations sit in the warehouse. Not now. All three are out, working hard to provide a steady, reliable source of power to NIPCO s member cooperatives and municipal electric utilities. The mobile subs provide power while a variety of substation construction projects are under way. The newest and largest mobile sub, a 12-MVA model, is at Mapleton, where a major reconstruction project is in progress. NIPCO s 5-MVA mobile substation is at the Orange City REC substation while workers install a concrete pad and new transformer. It previously was at the Hardscratch Substation in Harrison County during the late summer and fall. The mobile sub was handling power duties while a portion of NIPCO s three-year line retrofit program was completed in that area. The smallest unit, rated at 1.5-MVA, has a long-term job now. It is sitting in for the Moville Substation, which was destroyed in a tornado Oct. 4. It likely will be there until the summer of 2014 when construction of a new replacement substation is completed. Earlier, the mobile sub was at the Elkhorn Substation for another part of the retrofit project. NIPCO s mobile substations usually aren t called to duty more than two to four times per year. When they are needed, they assure that cooperative members won t have to suffer through an outage while repairs or upgrades are made. v 3 New Loan Program Helps Businesses Expand Strong businesses make a strong community, and NIPCO is backing up that belief by providing access to pass-through loans to companies in its service area. NIPCO s directors recently approved a new policy under which NIPCO will sponsor up to $1 million in USDA Rural Economic Development pass-through loans per member cooperative. The NIPCO directors approved the pursuit of the first such loan for an expansion at Puck Custom Enterprises, located near Manning. The company manufactures drag hose equipment for manure handling and is a member of Western Iowa Power Cooperative. v

4 Metal sheathing from a farmstead ended up in the low side steel at the Moville Substation following the Oct. 4 tornado. Load Control Program Saves Members Money NIPCO s load management program, nearing its 30th anniversary, continues to save money for NIPCO members. Called Switch Makes Cents, the program encourages end-use customers to have a switch installed on approved equipment. A radio signal turns off qualifying loads to keep power consumption down during peak use times. In 2014, the value of Switch Makes Cents to NIPCO and its members will be an estimated $3.24 million. The program saves NIPCO and its members money, and it also helps delay the need for additional costly power generation plants. v It took many rolls of hazard fencing to surround the demolished Moville Substation to keep people out of the dangerous area following the tornado damage. 4

5 FEMA Retrofit Projects Near Completion A three-year project to retrofit 151 miles of NIPCO s oldest transmission line is nearing its end. Mid-January is now the target for completing the work. Contractor Watts Electric has gone to a six-day workweek to meet the deadline. Several transmission and tap line sections in Woodbury, Crawford, Harrison and Pottawattamie counties remain to be finished. About 121 miles of the total project were completed by Oct. 31. The retrofit project is approved for 85 percent financing by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State of Iowa. It s part of a FEMA improvement plan offered following several 2008 natural disasters in Iowa. All of NIPCO s retrofit work must be completed by March 23, 2014, to receive the full 85 percent funding. The line construction features a narrower profile with more poles per mile and heavier conductor, all of which strengthens the transmission line and enhances electric service reliability. The lines FEMA approved for replacement are a significant portion of NIPCO s original lines dating to the mid-1950s. v NIPCO equipment was lined up along the road where crews set to work the day after the storm to rebuild the Lakeport tap line. NIPCO s line worker and apparatus crews all were on hand to set new poles the day following a tornado. Here they are preparing a pole replacement for the Lakeport Substation tap line which was damaged in the storm. 5

6 Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative P. O. Box 240 Le Mars, Iowa Published by Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative P. O. Box 240, County Road C38 Le Mars, Iowa Check out NIPCO s YouTube channel NIPCOvision Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/nipco.coop Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/nipco Kent D. Pauling, Executive Vice President and General Manager Cathie Shively, Editor, Member & Public Relations Manager Ken Klaver, Asst. Editor/Design, Graphic Designer A crane and rigging crew sets up to move a new transformer into the Le Mars Industrial Substation. NIPCO usually hires a crane to lift transformers into place but that was not possible here. The transformer was set on rails and slid into place at the substation in October, much like a house is moved. The additional transformer will provide more power resources to the growing industrial area on Le Mars southern edge. v